Spend some time in downtown San Diego — 125 years, say — and you’ll experience a few surprises. That’s what happened to First Lutheran Church one Friday in 1975.

Outside the sanctuary that morning, congregation members started something called “Bread Day,” offering passers-by fresh baked goods and coffee. “The idea,” explained the current pastor, the Rev. Wilbert “Wilk” Miller, “was to serve people on their way to work. But no one stopped.”

While the 9-to-5ers hustled past, though, another population eventually wandered over — and the rest is First Lutheran history. The same population still visits First Lutheran on Fridays for breakfast. In fact, that meal was so popular, the church added a simple but equally well-attended Monday dinner.

“There are now about 200, 250 people we serve meals to on Mondays and Fridays,” Miller said. “And they all tend to be the homeless, the working poor and senior citizens.”

That wasn’t the original intent, but since 1888 First Lutheran has adapted to the physical and spiritual needs of its community. Miller noted that the church’s slogan, “The Heart of Christ in the Heart of the City,” has led the congregation into some challenging areas. But he insists that this downtown institution must engage with downtown’s problems as well as its promise.

“You have all the beauty of the city and all the struggles of the city,” he said. “That is what it means to do ministry in the city.”

This Sunday, First Lutheran will celebrate its first century-and-a-quarter. In honor of the occasion, Bishop Mark Hanson — the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination — will fly out from his Chicago headquarters to preach at both the 9 and 11:15 a.m. services. Between those engagements, Hanson will join congregants and other guests at a celebratory brunch. This is the presiding bishop’s first visit to First Lutheran and Pastor Miller is thrilled.

“For us,” he said, “this is really a big deal.”

But if Hanson is a special guest, so are all the folks in the pews. “Every person who enters these doors,” Miller said, “is our most honored member.”

Less than polished

In March 1888, the Board of Home Missions asked the Rev. C.W. Heisler to journey down from Los Angeles to organize a church. He did, but Heisler’s job was strictly to organize, not lead, this flock. By October, First Lutheran had hired as its first pastor the Rev. Edwin Reuben Wagner, a descendant of Martin Luther.

The San Diego Union soon took note of the congregation’s industrious nature. “Few missions accomplish more in a year than the one in San Diego,” the paper editorialized in 1889, “and none have a brighter future.”

The church bought a downtown parcel for $5,000 in 1892, then spent another $10,000 to erect a sanctuary. Civic engagement has always been part of First Lutheran’s tradition, whether the pastor in 1918 blasting “the tomfoolery which passes for a city council in this city” or the church in 1960 building Luther Tower, high rise housing for seniors.

Related:

First Lutheran Church’s 125th anniversary

When: Sunday

Where: 1420 Third Ave., San Diego

Events: Bishop Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, preaching at the 9 and 11:15 a.m. services; brunch between services.

Information: (619) 234-6149; firstlutheransd.org

So when “Bread Day” brought the homeless to this sanctuary’s doorstep, many in the congregation saw this as an extension of their mission. Even if this extension was less than polished. Over the years, First Lutheran has had call the police to stop drug dealing and using, as well as drunken arguments. Urination and defecation around an electrical transformer outside the church led to tense exchanges with Shapery Enterprises, since 2008 the owner of several neighboring apartments.

“We met with the pastor a couple of times and we got a little bit aggressive with them,” said Rick Polischuk, a Shapery associate. “But they built an enclosure around the transformer and that solved the problem.”

Miller, who became pastor in 2005, also opened First Lutheran’s restrooms to everyone in the neighborhood during daylight hours.

“We want to be part of the solution,” he said.

And that solution includes understanding you don’t need a home to have a deep spiritual life.

“This church has recognized that just because people are impoverished, just because they are suffering, doesn’t mean they don’t already have fantastic relationships with God,” said Jim Lovell, executive director of First Lutheran’s Third Avenue Charitable Organization (TACO). “The goal is to recognize this, rather than be in a position of ‘We have it all and we are going to save you.’ ”

Small numbers, large ministry

Formed in 1996, TACO oversees the Friday breakfasts and Monday dinners — and much more. With student volunteers from UC San Diego, San Diego State University and California Western School of Law, the nonprofit also hosts clinics offering medical, dental, legal and psychological services. Jim’s wife, Nance Lovell, oversees “Going Home,” a program that counsels and cares for homeless people who are dying.

All this activity is impressive given the relative scarcity of Lutherans in San Diego County — in 2010, there were fewer than 30,000, the Association of Religion Data Archives reported; the county’s largest denomination, Catholic, accounts for more than 801,000 residents. First Lutheran’s congregation numbers a modest 225.

“But the congregation’s ministry is huge,” said Miller, 62, who has been a minister at Lutheran churches in inner-city Washington, D.C., and suburban Philadelphia’s affluent Main Line. “This is a very active congregation.”

Active and, members say, outgoing.

“We have always been known for being the friendliest church,” said Doris Shimizu, a Serra Mesa resident who has worshipped here since 1965.

“Always” might be an exaggeration. But in this neighborhood, 125 years is a long time.